Thursday, April 18, 2013

Lots going on these days. The Bicycle Thrift Shop is hopping which is great. I need to figure out a way to have a bike drive like the one Sycamore Cycles did back in December. Lots of people are coming in and walking out with bikes for themselves or their kids.

I decided to use my Spot Tracker to gather GPS waypoints of The Pisgah Traverse. I went out and rode the first 35 ish miles: Kitsuma, Point Lookout trail, Rainbow Rd, Old Toll, Heartbreak and then back up Mill Creek Rd to the truck. When I got home, I was bummed because the tracker only registered 6 random waypoint.

The ride was great, and reminded me that I need to stay consistent with riding, or I'm going to suffer like a dog during the P111K. I'm going to finish this year.

I also got a good ride up to Craggy on the Ratchet after the storms had passed. Lots of cool cloud formations. Not too hot, not too cold.

Yesterday, I didn't have a lot of time so I headed up Elk Mtn. Such a cool climb to have so close to home. I drafted some pros from the UHC squad, oddly, they did not acknowledge my presence. I root for those guys when I'm at the races, (and on FB) but might have to find a friendly team to root for. They turned off and I started the climb.

I was greeted with fog at the top. Lots of turkeys are out, saw one tom out there strutting his stuff. I have been wondering when the bears were going to start waking up.

As I was cruising down the steep hill just north of the Folk Art Center, I got my answer. A little 1-2 yr old black bear, standing on a log, looking around. I was able to get a decent photo too!! I was pretty excited about that the rest of the day.... still am in fact!